Microwave solvothermal synthesis and characterization of manganese-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Jacek Wojnarowicz; Roman Mukhovskyi; Elzbieta Pietrzykowska; Sylwia Kusnieruk; Jan Mizeracki; Witold Lojkowski

doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.64

Microwave solvothermal synthesis and characterization of manganese-doped ZnO nanoparticles

Beilstein J Nanotechnol. 2016 May 19:7:721-32. doi: 10.3762/bjnano.7.64. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Jacek Wojnarowicz¹, Roman Mukhovskyi¹, Elzbieta Pietrzykowska², Sylwia Kusnieruk¹, Jan Mizeracki¹, Witold Lojkowski¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sokolowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland.
² Institute of High Pressure Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sokolowska 29/37, 01-142 Warsaw, Poland; Faculty of Materials Science and Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Woloska 141, 02-507 Warsaw, Poland.

Abstract

Mn-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles were prepared by using the microwave solvothermal synthesis (MSS) technique. The nanoparticles were produced from a solution of zinc acetate dihydrate and manganese(II) acetate tetrahydrate using ethylene glycol as solvent. The content of Mn(2+) in Zn1- x Mn x O ranged from 1 to 25 mol %. The following properties of the nanostructures were investigated: skeleton density, specific surface area (SSA), phase purity (XRD), lattice parameters, dopant content, average particle size, crystallite size distribution, morphology. The average particle size of Zn1- x Mn x O was determined using Scherrer's formula, the Nanopowder XRD Processor Demo web application and by converting the specific surface area results. X-ray diffraction of synthesized samples shows a single-phase wurtzite crystal structure of ZnO without any indication of additional phases. Spherical Zn1- x Mn x O particles were obtained with monocrystalline structure and average particle sizes from 17 to 30 nm depending on the content of dopant. SEM images showed an impact of the dopant concentration on the morphology of the nanoparticles.

Keywords: characterization techniques of nanomaterials; manganese-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles; microwave solvothermal synthesis (MSS); physical properties of Mn2+-doped ZnO nanoparticles.